me, myself And i...A Look At Assam From The Bottom Up

Guwahati: Top leaders of the All Assam Students' Union (Aasu), which has been the leading students' body of the state for the last 10 years, will step down from their posts during the four-day 16th Dudhnoi convention. The convention will be held in Goalpara district from Monday.

Aasu adviser Samujjal Bhattacharyya said on Sunday that he would part ways with the students' body with which he has been associated since the days of the Assam agitation (1979 to 85). He has served Aasu as its general secretary and adviser for more than three decades.

Aasu president Sankar Prasad Ray and general secretary Tapan Kumar Gogoi will also quit from the students' body during the Dudhnoi convention, paving the way for the next generation.

"I will leave Aasu, through which I have served Assam over the years. But I will continue working for the good of the state," said Bhattacharyya. He added that he had no plans of joining any political party or of contesting elections.

The Aasu leadership denied rumours of joining BJP in the presence of party president Amit Shah, who will visit the state in April. Bhattacharyya hit out at state BJP president Siddhartha Bhattacharya who recently said that several Aasu leaders were in touch with the saffron party.

The Dudhnoi convention will see participation of leaders from different ethnic and tribal organizations of the state as well as academics to chalk out the future roadmap of the students' body in solving the burning issues of the state.

The Aasu adviser said a 'secure Assam' will the theme on which representatives of the organizations will deliberate to find ways for protecting the state from illegal influx, securing the future of students, making them employable and safeguarding the interests of students of vernacular medium schools.